Posts Tagged ‘UK’

The LUCID DREAM – ” The Deep End “

Posted: February 3, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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PRESALE OF THE DAY - THE LUCID DREAM 'THE DEEP END'

Following on from 2018’s acclaimed ‘Actualisation’, ‘The Deep End’ builds upon the acid house influences of the former but ventures into many new paths. Hip hop, techno, drum ‘n’ bass and other ‘genres’ sneak into the creative palette whilst also staying true to the band mantra of throwing the rule book out of the window, as far as ‘genres’ or ‘boundaries’ are concerned.

The album was penned over the Spring of 2019 by Mark Emmerson (vocals/guitar/synths). Again, Roland 303/808 synths, bass and vocals were key tools for writing, whilst the Roland SH01a found its way onto the team sheet, as well as a sampler for the first time. Recording commenced in March 2019, the ethos being rehearsing and recording a track as soon as it was written with mixing taking place on each track shortly after. By July 2019 85% of the album was completed, the final track laid down in January 2020.

The album was again recorded at Whitewood Studios, Liverpool, with Rob Whiteley, the album produced alongside long-time collaborator Ross Halden (Ghost Town Studios, Leeds) with frontman Mark Emmerson. 

Lead track ‘CHI-03’ gives the album its first sucker punch moment. A track born out of listening to late 80s hip hip records on loop before allowing the 303 to take on the co-lead vocal role alongside the addition of the sampler. A beat again designed to make people move, with enough Lucid sonics to stamp the band signature.

‘Leave Me In The Dark’ takes a 7 minute journey that taps into places the band have been before. No mean feat when that is a melting pot of dub, drum ‘n’ bass, jungle and enough raw power to know that this is a Lucid Dream track.

Side 2 kicks off with ‘Fight To Survive’. A beat belonging in 80s New York, keys more suited to the East Coast counterparts of the time, another statement. ‘It’s a campaign of hate, campaign of hate’.

‘Sunrise’ then takes the album on another tangent. The Lucid Dream tapped into acid house on ‘Actualisation’ but this track is acid/Balearic in its purest form. Another track that begs for communal celebration, when the opportunity permits. ‘High and Wild’ closes the album. The 9 minutes within don’t share the optimism and ‘highs’ displayed in the 35 minutes prior but doesn’t suffer any for it either. The most ‘conventional’ and only guitar based song on the album, this track won’t be found near a dance floor. More suited for the days after, when the highest highs bring the real lows.

The Lucid Dream are Mark Emmerson (vocals/guitars/programming), Wayne Jefferson (guitars/synths), Mike Denton (bass) and Luke Anderson (drums).

The Lucid Dream are rapidly becoming major players in an ever-increasingly crowded psych scene.. utterly seductive.’ The Quietus.

Taken from the forthcoming 5th album, ‘The Deep End’, to be released 2nd April 2021

SPECTRES – ” It’s Never Going To Happen And This Is Why “

Posted: February 2, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Spectres return with ‘It’s Never Going To Happen And This Is Why’, their bluntest, most bludgeoning LP yet. The oft sprawling and trance-inducing explorations of feedback and terror featured on their previous two critically acclaimed albums ‘Dying’ (2015) and ‘Condition’ (2017) have been supplanted by a rifle chamber of condensed noise nuggets firing in at three minutes or less. Spectres have gone pop. Recorded by Alex Greaves at The Nave, a 19th century Methodist church in Leeds, and released on their own new Dark Habits imprint in Europe / Little Cloud Records in the USA, the mischievously titled album sees Spectres at their most radical and playful, splattered with guest spots from experimental artists Klein, Elvin Brandhi, Ben Vince and French Margot.

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Massive album! Powerful sound. Hard to say which is my favourite track. Playing it both in track order and randomly brings loads of energy.  Spectres can do no wrong to my ears. Been a big fan since “Dying”. I was lucky enough to see them live a few years back and they blew me away. This album is as good, if not better than anything they’ve released to date. A lot of the tracks are considerably shorter than their previous work, but no less powerful. An excellent piece of work and already one of my faves from this year.

Released October 30th, 2020

FIELD MUSIC – ” Orion From The Street “

Posted: January 31, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Peter and David Brewis have been releasing records as Field Music for over 15 years, and in that time a few things about their music has been constant: it’s all erudite and thoughtful, it’s all wonderfully melodic in a very “raised on Paul McCartney” way, and the music is performed and recorded with a clinical precision. Their best songs make the most of their raw skill and stoic formalism, and their more forgettable work strains against the limitations of their apparent repression and uptight musical inclinations.

“Orion on the Street” is definitely in the former category. It’s a song about death and mourning the loss of someone close, and it’s very much written from the “acceptance” stage of grief. The sorts of messy emotions that would characterize the other stages wouldn’t be the best fit for the Brewis aesthetic, but the brothers are exceptionally well suited to capture the graceful clarity of processing loss and seeing some beauty in someone moving on, even if you’re a bit agnostic on what actually comes next. A sparkly piano part and a very George Harrison-y lead guitar part are the most musically beautiful parts of the song, but the most lovely sentiment comes when they reckon with the notion of the afterlife: “Belief in further lives / separate, but true / if I thought you were anywhere / I would be there too.”

The band wrote: “Here’s the video for our new song Orion From The Street, put together by Peter and our multitasking guitar/synth/design whizzkid Kev. Cleadon Mill never looked so cosmic (except to those teens on shrooms back in the day)”.

A new, as yet unnamed album has also been announced for release later in the year.

WINTER GARDENS – ” Tapestry ” EP

Posted: January 17, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Winter Gardens - Tapestry 180g Ltd Ed Marble Magenta 12

Taking influence from 80’s post-punk, Factory & Creation era bands, Winter Gardens have developed their own ‘dream-punk’ sound, with all the ethereal haze of shoegaze & dream-pop combined with the energy of punk.

Based out of East Sussex, Winter Gardens caught the ear of many back in 2020 with their debut EP, “Tapestry”. While there are no plans announced for this year yet, it was a collection of tracks that hinted at a band with a very bright future. Released through Austerity Records, a new socially-conscious independent record label part-owned by the band’s guitarist Jamie Windless, Tapestry is a record heavily influenced by the 80’s indie sounds of labels like Creation and 4AD, bands who fused the worlds of dream-pop and the rawness of punk

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Across its four tracks, “Tapestry” incorporates moments of lush introspection, such as the Lanterns On The Lake-like title track, as well as moments of ferocious energy, with the excellently titled Zigzanny, reminiscent of The Joy Formidable. Even if no further new music arrives this year, I can only hope 2021 gives the band the opportunity to take this record out to the live environment, and having already played with the likes of Penelope Isles and Say Sue Me, that’s something well worth being very excited about.

VANISHING TWIN – ” In Piscina “

Posted: January 14, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Following their hugely successful second album ‘The Age Of Immunology’ (roundly raved over by The Line Of Best Fit, PopMatters, Pitchfork, Q, MOJO, The Quietus and Uncut) and one of Rough Trade, MOJO and Uncut’s albums of 2019. Fire Films announces the first in our ‘Baptism Of Fire’ series of live streams for 2021, beginning with the transcendent psychedelic pop of Vanishing Twin and brought to you via Noonchorus on 20th January.

Vanishing Twin present ‘Pensiero Magico’ (Magical Thinking), a surreal document of their live show, augmented for 2D in a one-hour live performance special. Vanishing Twin will explore all sides of its schizophrenic self, from hypnagogic jazz to quixotic squidge pop to peeling electronic thunder, all set in multiple monochromatic worlds. Viewers will have access to exclusive merchandise designed by the band for the event including screen-printed hoodies and t-shirts and will also be entered into a raffle to win one of two dubplates created for the performance.

Check out Vanishing Twin’s newly released show trailer, a production by Tentacle and recorded by Gareth Finnegan, for a taster of their arresting live show later this month. Our ‘Baptism Of Fire’ live series will bring special performances from Fire Records artists direct to your living room throughout the year

Cocktail umbrellas and chlorinated fantasies! It’s time to get cool in the pool with Vanishing Twin. “Fantastical soundscapes that are as welcoming as they are unusual.” All Music

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Released March 6th, 2020

LANDE HEKT – ” 80 Days of Rain “

Posted: January 12, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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This record was recorded, mixed and mastered by Ben David in his studio house in the Adelaide Hills in Australia in February 2020. Lande Hekt of UK based punk band Muncie Girls has released a new song. The song is called “80 Days of Rain” and is off of her upcoming solo album Going to Hell due out January 22, 2021 via Get Better Records. Lande Hekt released her last album  Gigantic Disappointment in 2019.

All instruments were played by me except for percussion which was by Ben. He also sang on the songs.  “80 Days of Rain” is a chiming track about a constant downpour that keeps you down. Its chorus is especially gripping, Hekt’s muffled voice singing: “Is this another string of bad luck?/ Is this just another week where we don’t fuck?/ This is where I think I go insane/ I can’t do this again/ 80 days of rain, 80 days of rain.” Hekt says the track “is about moving away and missing someone, and how that person taught me to get angry about climate change,”

Get Better Records 2021 Releases January 22nd, 2021

93MILLIONMILESFROMTHESUN – ” Covered “

Posted: December 31, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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A collection of cover versions that 93MillionMilesFromTheSun have done over the years. Some have appeared on compilation albums, some on EPs and some are unreleased.
Thanks to all the artists that have inspired us over the years. As stereotypical visions of people and places go, the good folks of Doncaster aren’t exactly at the top of the list when thoughts turn to embracing new, experimental music. Indeed, having spent the occasional stag night in DN1 and its dens of iniquity also known as night clubs, the nearest anyone could expect to come to encountering new music would be the “Indie half hour” in Seventh Heaven, where Oasis, The Enemy and Ocean Colour Scene are the so-called alternative. Thank heavens for small mercies then, as 93 Million Miles From The Sun to not only manage to dampen stereotypes, 93 Million Miles From The Sun’s extensive make-up is that not only do they express a desire to take their sonic experimentation one step further, but they also never lose sight of the fact that beneath all the reverb and delay lay actual songs that would sound just as affecting.

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1. Velocity Girl – Primal Scream
2. Unfamiliar – Ride
3. Kaleidoscope – The Boo Radleys
4. Never Understand – The Jesus & Mary Chain
5. Slowdive – Slowdive
6. Reference – Exit Calm
7. Lounge Act – Nirvana
8. Christine – The House Of Love
9. Drive Blind – Ride
10. To The Sky – Maps
11. Star Roving – Slowdive
12. Fosters Van – The Boo Radleys
13. Killed By Death – Motorhead
14. Can’t Go Back – Primal Scream
15. In A Hole – The Jesus & Mary Chain
16. Falling Ashes…  more

93MillionMilesFromTheSun are:- Nick Mainline (Guitars/Effects/Vocals), Kenno (Bass)Jase Burns (Drums/Effects))

released December 31st, 2020

Primal Scream, Ride, The Boo Radleys, JAMC, Slowdive, Exit Calm, Nirvana, The House Of Love, Maps, Motorhead, Lush, The Stone Roses and 93MillionMilesFromTheSun

HOLLY HUMBERSTONE – ” Overkill ” and ” Deep End “

Posted: December 25, 2020 in MUSIC
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Image may contain: 1 person, closeup

Falling Asleep at the Wheel, the debut EP from English singer/songwriter Holly Humberstone, is only four months old, but the project’s soothing indie sounds are as welcome as ever in the tail end of the longest year in human history. The warm guitar tones on tracks like “Overkill” feel particularly appropriate for the winter ahead, helping us to find comfort in the solitude we may be facing during a first holiday season spent away from family.

It’s this track Humberstone’s favorite from the EP and her most personal track “Deep End” that she chose to play for us in her “Neighborhoods” session filmed outside her house in Grantham, Lincolnshire. Under quickly moving clouds, and on what looks like a chilly early-winter afternoon, the songwriter plays through both tracks on electric guitar. Make sure to say hi to her mom between songs.

Singer-songwriter Holly Humberstone performs two songs from her debut EP ‘Falling Asleep At The Wheel’ outside of her home in Grantham, UK.

HAMBURGER – ” Teenage Terrified “

Posted: December 11, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Formed before lockdown and planned to really make a go of it. By early 2020, they’d nabbed a few support slots, released a couple of respectable singles, and signed to Specialist Subject Records. Then, the world stopped. However, Hamburger‘s sizzle didn’t come to a cool. Instead, they’ve built on the momentum. Their most recent release, “Supersad,” is a single that spells big things from their debut EP “Teenage Terrified,”

Hamburger is Tom, Katie, Liv, Fearghall, Mike and Doug. We are a good band, he new Hamburger EP is officially out today! 6 tracks of sweet indie pop, each song shows a distinct change in style. They’re a special band and I’m stoked to be helping with their first proper release, excited to see where they go from here!

Unfortunately the 12″ is slightly delayed but we’re still hoping to have them shipped before Christmas. So for now give it a listen, it’s streaming everywhere you’d expect! 

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Released December 11th, 2020.
Music by Hamburger
Lyrics by Fearghall Kilkenny and Tom Kelly

 

MODERN STUDIES – ” Life Flows In Endless Song ” EP

Posted: December 10, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Following the release of critically acclaimed new album ‘The Weight Of The Sun’ back in the Spring, Modern Studies used the time they’d have usually spent touring to create new music, resulting in two new EPs soon to be released on Fire Records.

Based on stray threads and thoughts from this period, Modern Studies reworked these seedlings remotely over the turning of seasons from Summer to Autumn this year. The EPs were recorded partly at the Glad Café in Glasgow with Emily Scott and Joe Smilie laying down piano melodies and percussion. Rob St John added guitars and modular synth, and an ambient track came from the processing of an accidental export of each ‘The Weight Of The Sun’ track playing at once.

Inspired by this collaborative process Rob and Emily began writing vocal melodies and collaborating on lyrics whilst Pete Harvey began mixing the new ideas in his Pumpkinfield studio and recording the basslines, cello and musical saw. “We shook off our usual song structures in favour of something repetitive, slow and heavy; life flows in endless song. We added chopstick drums, prepared guitars, harmonium, xaphoon, bowed clock gongs, chimes and violins from our homes.”

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Split into two parts but arriving separately, Modern Studies first EP ‘Life Flows In Endless Song’ is diaphanous, adorned with the expansive sound of their recent releases whilst the second EP ‘The Body Is A Tide’ carries you into more ominous darker terrains providing another fine addition to the experimentalists’ expanding catalogue.

Modern Studies ‘Life Flows In Endless Song’ EP is digitally released on 10th December with the second EP due out in 2021. 

Released December 10th, 2020

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